ARCO-OP Latest News

ARCO-OP member peer reviewed publication!

Morgan Smith 
Published in Quaternary Science Reviews:
 
Geoarchaeological Excavations at the Guest Mammoth Site (8MR130), Florida, USA

ARCO-OP acquires research vessel!

RV Clovis Shoreline
Funded by a generous grant from the Felburn Foundation

Board member Morgan Smith wrote a proposal to the Felburn Foundation to acquire a research vessel capable of reaching offshore locations inaccessible with smaller vessels typically used for ARCO-OP projects.  A 33 ft Donzi is the result.

Click here for more information and pictures

ARCO-OP receives funding for offshore research!

SPLASH: A Deeper Dive into the Archaeology of the Continental Shelf

Board members Shawn Joy and Morgan Smith received Florida Division of Historical Resources grant funds for their proposal of survey and diving off the coast of St. Marks, Wakulla County. Operations include geophysical remote sensing, site mapping, limited excavations,  photogrammetry and 3D modeling of sites, artifact recording, laboratory analysis and radiocarbon dating,. Shawn Joy is the principal investigator. Click here for more information!

ARCO-OP receives grant to assess the effects of Hurricane Michael on offshore sites

ARCO-OP is approved for $500k funding by the National Park Service via the Florida Division of Historical Resources for a proposal written by Board members Smith and Joy. This 2-year project will assess damage to submerged historic (shipwrecks) and precontact archaeological sites potentially impacted by Hurricane Michael and make recommendations for site preservation. ARCO-OP is excited to work with the Submerged Archaeological Conservancy International (SACI) for assessing the shipwrecks. 

ARCO-OP receives grant for Lake George III: 

Searching for Paleoindian and Pre-Clovis Sites

ARCO-OP is approved for a small category grant from the Florida Division of Historical Resources to conduct further research under Lake George searching for Paleoindian and earlier sites. The $48k grant  includes funding for survey of a portion of the Lake using traditional sub bottom and new HALD techniques for identifying buried early sites. Activities include coring, and micromorphological analysis of sediments, palynology, and macrobotanical analysis. The goal is to better understand the paleoenvironmental conditions in the region between ~10 calkya to 22 calkya years before present. David Thulman is the Principal Investigator. Click here for more information!

Clovis Ancestors west of Baikal, not east

POSTER AND SLIDE SHOW PRESENTED AT THE 13TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON KNAPPABLE MATERIALS, OCT 7, 2021 
BY
MICHAEL FAUGHT

REFERENCES USED TO CONSTRUCT THE FAUGHT ISKM POSTER

 

References used for the “Beringia is Dead” series of maps

Buvit, Ian

2008      Geoarchaeological Investigations in the Southwestern Transbaikal Region, Russia, Anthropology, Washington State University.

Fu, Qiaomei, Heng Li, Priya Moorjani, Flora Jay, Sergey M. Slepchenko, Aleksei A. Bondarev, Philip L. F. Johnson, Ayinuer Aximu-Petri, Kay Prufer, Cesare de Filippo, Matthias Meyer, Nicolas Zwyns, Domingo C. Salazar-Garcia, Yaroslav V. Kuzmin, Susan G. Keates, Pavel A. Kosintsev, Dmitry I. Razhev, Michael P. Richards, Nikolai V. Peristov, Michael Lachmann, Katerina Douka, Thomas F. G. Higham, Montgomery Slatkin, Jean-Jacques Hublin, David Reich, Janet Kelso, T. Bence Viola and Svante Paabo

2014      Genome sequence of a 45,000-year-old modern human from western Siberia. Nature 514(7523):445-449.

Goebel, Ted and Ian Buvit

2011      From the Yenisei to the Yukon: Interpreting Lithic Assemblage Variability in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Beringia. Texas A&M Press.

Goebel, T., R. Powers and N. Bigelow

1991      The Nenana Complex of Alaska and Clovis Origins. In Clovis: Origins and Adaptations, edited by R. Bonnichsen and K. L. Turnmire, pp. 49-79. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Corvallis.

Graf, Kelly E. and Ian Buvit

2017      Human Dispersal from Siberia to Beringia: Assessing a Beringian Standstill in Light of the Archaeological Evidence. Current Anthropology 58(S17):S583-S603.

Hamilton, Marcus J. and Briggs Buchanan

2010      Archaeological Support for the Three-Stage Expansion of Modern Humans across Northeastern Eurasia and into the Americas. PLoS ONE 5(8):e12472.

Kuzmin, Yaroslav V.

2008      Siberia at the Last Glacial Maximum: Environment and Archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Research 16(2):163-221.

Kuzmin, Yaroslav V. and Susan G. Keates

2016      Siberia and neighboring regions in the Last Glacial Maximum: did people occupy northern Eurasia at that time? Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences:1-14.

Larichev, Vitaliy, Vitality Larichev, Uriy Khol’ushkin and Inna Laricheva

1988      The Upper Paleolithic of Northern Asia: Achievements, Problems, and Perspectives. I. Western Siberia. Journal of World Prehistory 2(4):359-396.

Pitulko, V. V., P. A. Nikolsky, E. Yu. Girya, A. E. Basilyan, V. E. Tumskoy, S. A. Koulakov, S. N. Astakhov, E. Yu. Pavlova and M. A. Anisimov

2004      The Yana RHS Site: Humans in the Arctic Before the Last Glacial Maximum. Science 303(5654):52-56.

Pitulko, V. V., E. Y. Pavlova and A. E. Basilyan

2016      Mass accumulations of mammoth (mammoth ‘graveyards’) with indications of past human activity in the northern Yana-Indighirka lowland, Arctic Siberia. Quaternary International 406:202-217.

Pitulko, Vladimir V., Alexei N. Tikhonov, Elena Y. Pavlova, Pavel A. Nikolskiy, Konstantin E. Kuper and Roman N. Polozov

2016      Early human presence in the Arctic: Evidence from 45,000-year-old mammoth remains. Science 351(6270):260-263.

Sikora, Martin, Andaine Seguin-Orlando, Vitor C. Sousa, Anders Albrechtsen, Thorfinn Korneliussen, Amy Ko, Simon Rasmussen, Isabelle Dupanloup, Philip R. Nigst, Marjolein D. Bosch, Gabriel Renaud, Morten E. Allentoft, Ashot Margaryan, Sergey V. Vasilyev, Elizaveta V. Veselovskaya, Svetlana B. Borutskaya, Thibaut Deviese, Dan Comeskey, Tom Higham, Andrea Manica, Robert Foley, David J. Meltzer, Rasmus Nielsen, Laurent Excoffier, Marta Mirazon Lahr, Ludovic Orlando and Eske Willerslev

2017      Ancient genomes show social and reproductive behavior of early Upper Paleolithic foragers. Science 358(6363):659-662.

Slobodin, Sergei B.

2011      Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Cultures of Beringia: the General and the Specific. In From theYenisei to the Yukon, edited by T. Goebel and I. Buvit, pp. 91-118. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.

Vasil’ev, Sergey A., Yaroslav V. Kuzmin, Lyubov A. Orlova and Vyacheslav N. Dementiev

2002      Radiocarbon-Based Chronology of the Paleolithic in Siberia and Its Relevance to the Peopling of the New World. Radiocarbon 44(2):503-530.

Vasiliev, S. G. and E. P. Rybin

2009      Tolbaga: Upper Paleolithic Settlement Patterns in the Trans- Baikal Region. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 37(4):13-34.

 

References used to construct the Turtle Island Map of Pre-Clovis sites

FORTHCOMING

References used to construct the aDNA maps

Allentoft, Morten E., Martin Sikora, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Simon Rasmussen, Morten Rasmussen, Jesper Stenderup, Peter B. Damgaard, Hannes Schroeder, Torbjörn Ahlström, Lasse Vinner, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Ashot Margaryan, Tom Higham, David Chivall, Niels Lynnerup, Lise Harvig, Justyna Baron, Philippe Della Casa, Paweł Dąbrowski, Paul R. Duffy, Alexander V. Ebel, Andrey Epimakhov, Karin Frei, Mirosław Furmanek, Tomasz Gralak, Andrey Gromov, Stanisław Gronkiewicz, Gisela Grupe, Tamás Hajdu, Radosław Jarysz, Valeri Khartanovich, Alexandr Khokhlov, Viktória Kiss, Jan Kolář, Aivar Kriiska, Irena Lasak, Cristina Longhi, George McGlynn, Algimantas Merkevicius, Inga Merkyte, Mait Metspalu, Ruzan Mkrtchyan, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, László Paja, György Pálfi, Dalia Pokutta, Łukasz Pospieszny, T. Douglas Price, Lehti Saag, Mikhail Sablin, Natalia Shishlina, Václav Smrčka, Vasilii I. Soenov, Vajk Szeverényi, Gusztáv Tóth, Synaru V. Trifanova, Liivi Varul, Magdolna Vicze, Levon Yepiskoposyan, Vladislav Zhitenev, Ludovic Orlando, Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén, Søren Brunak, Rasmus Nielsen, Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev

2015      Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia. Nature 522(7555):167-172.

Balanovsky, Oleg, Vladimir Gurianov, Valery Zaporozhchenko, Olga Balaganskaya, Vadim Urasin, Maxat Zhabagin, Viola Grugni, Rebekah Canada, Nadia Al-Zahery, Alessandro Raveane, Shao-Qing Wen, Shi Yan, Xianpin Wang, Pierre Zalloua, Abdullah Marafi, Sergey Koshel, Ornella Semino, Chris Tyler-Smith and Elena Balanovska

2017      Phylogeography of human Y-chromosome haplogroup Q3-L275 from an academic/citizen science collaboration. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17(1):18.

Bisso-Machado, R. and N. J. R. Fagundes

2021      Uniparental genetic markers in Native Americans: A summary of all available data from ancient and contemporary populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 176(3):445-458.

Bortolini, Eugenio, Luca Pagani, Gregorio Oxilia, Cosimo Posth, Federica Fontana, Federica Badino, Tina Saupe, Francesco Montinaro, Davide Margaritora, Matteo Romandini, Federico Lugli, Andrea Papini, Marco Boggioni, Nicola Perrini, Antonio Oxilia, Riccardo Aiese Cigliano, Rosa Barcelona, Davide Visentin, Nicolò Fasser, Simona Arrighi, Carla Figus, Giulia Marciani, Sara Silvestrini, Federico Bernardini, Jessica C. Menghi Sartorio, Luca Fiorenza, Jacopo Moggi Cecchi, Claudio Tuniz, Toomas Kivisild, Fernando Gianfrancesco, Marco Peresani, Christiana L. Scheib, Sahra Talamo, Maurizio D’Esposito and Stefano Benazzi

2020      Early Alpine occupation backdates westward human migration in Late Glacial Europe. bioRxiv:2020.2008.2010.241430.

Flegontov, Pavel, N. Ezgi Altınışık, Piya Changmai, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Nicole Adamski, Deborah A. Bolnick, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Francesca Candilio, Brendan J. Culleton, Olga Flegontova, T. Max Friesen, Choongwon Jeong, Thomas K. Harper, Denise Keating, Douglas J. Kennett, Alexander M. Kim, Thiseas C. Lamnidis, Ann Marie Lawson, Iñigo Olalde, Jonas Oppenheimer, Ben A. Potter, Jennifer Raff, Robert A. Sattler, Pontus Skoglund, Kristin Stewardson, Edward J. Vajda, Sergey Vasilyev, Elizaveta Veselovskaya, M. Geoffrey Hayes, Dennis H. O’Rourke, Johannes Krause, Ron Pinhasi, David Reich and Stephan Schiffels

2019      Palaeo-Eskimo genetic ancestry and the peopling of Chukotka and North America. Nature.

Flegontov, Pavel, Nefize Ezgi Altinisik, Piya Changmai, Edward J Vajda, Johannes Krause and Stephan Schiffels

2016      Na-Dene populations descend from the Paleo-Eskimo migration into America. bioRxiv.

Freeman, Laurence, Conrad Stephen Brimacombe and Eran Elhaik

2020      aYChr-DB: a database of ancient human Y haplogroups. NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics 2(4).

Fu, Qiaomei, Cosimo Posth, Mateja Hajdinjak, Martin Petr, Swapan Mallick, Daniel Fernandes, Anja Furtwängler, Wolfgang Haak, Matthias Meyer, Alissa Mittnik, Birgit Nickel, Alexander Peltzer, Nadin Rohland, Viviane Slon, Sahra Talamo, Iosif Lazaridis, Mark Lipson, Iain Mathieson, Stephan Schiffels, Pontus Skoglund, Anatoly P. Derevianko, Nikolai Drozdov, Vyacheslav Slavinsky, Alexander Tsybankov, Renata Grifoni Cremonesi, Francesco Mallegni, Bernard Gély, Eligio Vacca, Manuel R. González Morales, Lawrence G. Straus, Christine Neugebauer-Maresch, Maria Teschler-Nicola, Silviu Constantin, Oana Teodora Moldovan, Stefano Benazzi, Marco Peresani, Donato Coppola, Martina Lari, Stefano Ricci, Annamaria Ronchitelli, Frédérique Valentin, Corinne Thevenet, Kurt Wehrberger, Dan Grigorescu, Hélène Rougier, Isabelle Crevecoeur, Damien Flas, Patrick Semal, Marcello A. Mannino, Christophe Cupillard, Hervé Bocherens, Nicholas J. Conard, Katerina Harvati, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Dorothée G. Drucker, Jiří Svoboda, Michael P. Richards, David Caramelli, Ron Pinhasi, Janet Kelso, Nick Patterson, Johannes Krause, Svante Pääbo and David Reich

2016      The genetic history of Ice Age Europe. Nature 534:200.

Haak, Wolfgang, Iosif Lazaridis, Nick Patterson, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Bastien Llamas, Guido Brandt, Susanne Nordenfelt, Eadaoin Harney, Kristin Stewardson, Qiaomei Fu, Alissa Mittnik, Eszter Banffy, Christos Economou, Michael Francken, Susanne Friederich, Rafael Garrido Pena, Fredrik Hallgren, Valery Khartanovich, Aleksandr Khokhlov, Michael Kunst, Pavel Kuznetsov, Harald Meller, Oleg Mochalov, Vayacheslav Moiseyev, Nicole Nicklisch, Sandra L. Pichler, Roberto Risch, Manuel A. Rojo Guerra, Christina Roth, Anna Szecsenyi-Nagy, Joachim Wahl, Matthias Meyer, Johannes Krause, Dorcas Brown, David Anthony, Alan Cooper, Kurt Werner Alt and David Reich

2015      Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe. Nature 522(7555):207-211.

Huang, Xiufeng, Zi-Yang Xia, Xiaoyun Bin, Guanglin He, Jianxin Guo, Chaowen Lin, Lianfei Yin, Jing Zhao, Zhuofei Ma, Fuwei Ma, Yingxiang Li, Rong Hu, Lan-Hai Wei and Chuan-Chao Wang

2020      Genomic Insights into the Demographic History of Southern Chinese. bioRxiv:2020.2011.2008.373225.

Larena, Maximilian, Federico Sanchez-Quinto, Per Sjödin, James McKenna, Carlo Ebeo, Rebecca Reyes, Ophelia Casel, Jin-Yuan Huang, Kim Pullupul Hagada, Dennis Guilay, Jennelyn Reyes, Fatima Pir Allian, Virgilio Mori, Lahaina Sue Azarcon, Alma Manera, Celito Terando, Lucio Jamero, Gauden Sireg, Renefe Manginsay-Tremedal, Maria Shiela Labos, Richard Dian Vilar, Acram Latiph, Rodelio Linsahay Saway, Erwin Marte, Pablito Magbanua, Amor Morales, Ismael Java, Rudy Reveche, Becky Barrios, Erlinda Burton, Jesus Christopher Salon, Ma. Junaliah Tuazon Kels, Adrian Albano, Rose Beatrix Cruz-Angeles, Edison Molanida, Lena Granehäll, Mário Vicente, Hanna Edlund, Jun-Hun Loo, Jean Trejaut, Simon Y. W. Ho, Lawrence Reid, Helena Malmström, Carina Schlebusch, Kurt Lambeck, Phillip Endicott and Mattias Jakobsson

2021      Multiple migrations to the Philippines during the last 50,000 years. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(13):e2026132118.

Mao, Xiaowei, Hucai Zhang, Shiyu Qiao, Yichen Liu, Fengqin Chang, Ping Xie, Ming Zhang, Tianyi Wang, Mian Li, Peng Cao, Ruowei Yang, Feng Liu, Qingyan Dai, Xiaotian Feng, Wanjing Ping, Chuzhao Lei, John W. Olsen, E. Andrew Bennett and Qiaomei Fu

2021      The deep population history of northern East Asia from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. Cell.

Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor, Ben A. Potter, Lasse Vinner, Matthias Steinrücken, Simon Rasmussen, Jonathan Terhorst, John A. Kamm, Anders Albrechtsen, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Martin Sikora, Joshua D. Reuther, Joel D. Irish, Ripan S. Malhi, Ludovic Orlando, Yun S. Song, Rasmus Nielsen, David J. Meltzer and Eske Willerslev

2018      Terminal Pleistocene Alaskan genome reveals first founding population of Native Americans. Nature.

Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor, Lasse Vinner, Peter de Barros Damgaard, Constanza de la Fuente, Jeffrey Chan, Jeffrey P. Spence, Morten E. Allentoft, Tharsika Vimala, Fernando Racimo, Thomaz Pinotti, Simon Rasmussen, Ashot Margaryan, Miren Iraeta Orbegozo, Dorothea Mylopotamitaki, Matthew Wooller, Clement Bataille, Lorena Becerra-Valdivia, David Chivall, Daniel Comeskey, Thibaut Devièse, Donald K. Grayson, Len George, Harold Harry, Verner Alexandersen, Charlotte Primeau, Jon Erlandson, Claudia Rodrigues-Carvalho, Silvia Reis, Murilo Q. R. Bastos, Jerome Cybulski, Carlos Vullo, Flavia Morello, Miguel Vilar, Spencer Wells, Kristian Gregersen, Kasper Lykke Hansen, Niels Lynnerup, Marta Mirazón Lahr, Kurt Kjær, André Strauss, Marta Alfonso-Durruty, Antonio Salas, Hannes Schroeder, Thomas Higham, Ripan S. Malhi, Jeffrey T. Rasic, Luiz Souza, Fabricio R. Santos, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Martin Sikora, Rasmus Nielsen, Yun S. Song, David J. Meltzer and Eske Willerslev

2018      Early human dispersals within the Americas. Science.

Ning, Chao, Daniel Fernandes, Piya Changmai, Olga Flegontova, Eren Yüncü, Robert Maier, N. Ezgi Altınışık, Alexei S. Kassian, Johannes Krause, Carles Lalueza-Fox, Andrea Manica, Ben A. Potter, Martine Robbeets, Kendra Sirak, Veronika Siska, Edward J. Vajda, Leonid A. Vyazov, Ke Wang, Lixin Wang, Xiyan Wu, Xiaoming Xiao, Fan Zhang, David Reich, Stephan Schiffels, Ron Pinhasi, Yinqiu Cui and Pavel Flegontov

2020a    The genomic formation of First American ancestors in East and Northeast Asia. bioRxiv:2020.2010.2012.336628.

Ning, Chao, Tianjiao Li, Ke Wang, Fan Zhang, Tao Li, Xiyan Wu, Shizhu Gao, Quanchao Zhang, Hai Zhang, Mark J. Hudson, Guanghui Dong, Sihao Wu, Yanming Fang, Chen Liu, Chunyan Feng, Wei Li, Tao Han, Ruo Li, Jian Wei, Yonggang Zhu, Yawei Zhou, Chuan-Chao Wang, Shengying Fan, Zenglong Xiong, Zhouyong Sun, Maolin Ye, Lei Sun, Xiaohong Wu, Fawei Liang, Yanpeng Cao, Xingtao Wei, Hong Zhu, Hui Zhou, Johannes Krause, Martine Robbeets, Choongwon Jeong and Yinqiu Cui

2020b    Ancient genomes from northern China suggest links between subsistence changes and human migration. Nature Communications 11(1):2700.

Saag, Lehti, Sergey V. Vasilyev, Liivi Varul, Natalia V. Kosorukova, Dmitri V. Gerasimov, Svetlana V. Oshibkina, Samuel J. Griffith, Anu Solnik, Lauri Saag, Eugenia D’Atanasio, Ene Metspalu, Maere Reidla, Siiri Rootsi, Toomas Kivisild, Christiana Lyn Scheib, Kristiina Tambets, Aivar Kriiska and Mait Metspalu

2021      Genetic ancestry changes in Stone to Bronze Age transition in the East European plain. Science Advances 7(4):eabd6535.

Sikora, Martin, Vladimir V. Pitulko, Vitor C. Sousa, Morten E. Allentoft, Lasse Vinner, Simon Rasmussen, Ashot Margaryan, Peter de Barros Damgaard, Constanza de la Fuente, Gabriel Renaud, Melinda A. Yang, Qiaomei Fu, Isabelle Dupanloup, Konstantinos Giampoudakis, David Nogués-Bravo, Carsten Rahbek, Guus Kroonen, Michaël Peyrot, Hugh McColl, Sergey V. Vasilyev, Elizaveta Veselovskaya, Margarita Gerasimova, Elena Y. Pavlova, Vyacheslav G. Chasnyk, Pavel A. Nikolskiy, Andrei V. Gromov, Valeriy I. Khartanovich, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Pavel S. Grebenyuk, Alexander Yu Fedorchenko, Alexander I. Lebedintsev, Sergey B. Slobodin, Boris A. Malyarchuk, Rui Martiniano, Morten Meldgaard, Laura Arppe, Jukka U. Palo, Tarja Sundell, Kristiina Mannermaa, Mikko Putkonen, Verner Alexandersen, Charlotte Primeau, Nurbol Baimukhanov, Ripan S. Malhi, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Kristian Kristiansen, Anna Wessman, Antti Sajantila, Marta Mirazon Lahr, Richard Durbin, Rasmus Nielsen, David J. Meltzer, Laurent Excoffier and Eske Willerslev

2019      The population history of northeastern Siberia since the Pleistocene. Nature.

Wang, Chuan-Chao, Yan Lu, Longli Kang, Huiqian Ding, Shi Yan, Jianxin Guo, Qun Zhang, Shao-Qing Wen, Ling-Xiang Wang, Manfei Zhang, Xinzhu Tong, Xiufeng Huang, Shengjie Nie, Qiongying Deng, Bofeng Zhu, Li Jin and Hui Li

2019      The massive assimilation of indigenous East Asian populations in the origin of Muslim Hui people inferred from paternal Y chromosome. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 169(2):341-347.

Wang, Chuan-Chao, Sabine Reinhold, Alexey Kalmykov, Antje Wissgott, Guido Brandt, Choongwon Jeong, Olivia Cheronet, Matthew Ferry, Eadaoin Harney, Denise Keating, Swapan Mallick, Nadin Rohland, Kristin Stewardson, Anatoly R. Kantorovich, Vladimir E. Maslov, Vladimira G. Petrenko, Vladimir R. Erlikh, Biaslan Ch Atabiev, Rabadan G. Magomedov, Philipp L. Kohl, Kurt W. Alt, Sandra L. Pichler, Claudia Gerling, Harald Meller, Benik Vardanyan, Larisa Yeganyan, Alexey D. Rezepkin, Dirk Mariaschk, Natalia Berezina, Julia Gresky, Katharina Fuchs, Corina Knipper, Stephan Schiffels, Elena Balanovska, Oleg Balanovsky, Iain Mathieson, Thomas Higham, Yakov B. Berezin, Alexandra Buzhilova, Viktor Trifonov, Ron Pinhasi, Andrej B. Belinskij, David Reich, Svend Hansen, Johannes Krause and Wolfgang Haak

2019    Ancient human genome-wide data from a 3000-year interval in the Caucasus corresponds with eco-geographic regions. Nature Communications 10(1):590.

Yu, He, Maria A. Spyrou, Marina Karapetian, Svetlana Shnaider, Rita Radzevičiūtė, Kathrin Nägele, Gunnar U. Neumann, Sandra Penske, Jana Zech, Mary Lucas, Petrus LeRoux, Patrick Roberts, Galina Pavlenok, Alexandra Buzhilova, Cosimo Posth, Choongwon Jeong and Johannes Krause

2020    Paleolithic to Bronze Age Siberians Reveal Connections with First Americans and across Eurasia. Cell.

Scanned Artifact Database

CO-OP Sponsored Research by David Thulman

Since the early 2000s, I have collected images of chipped stone artifacts (mostly projectile points), mainly from the Southeastern United States. The goals are several fold: (1) preserve the data for future analyses, (2) make images of sometime-hard-to access diagnostic artifacts available to others, and (3) facilitate my own research in artifact shape analysis. ARCO-OP has funded some of this work and agreed to host some of the data.

The images were collected from public institutions and private collections. The latter source is controversial to some archaeologists, but I take a pragmatic approach – the data is there and will be lost forever, so for those who find this data useful and ethical, it is available for use. Working with collectors can be fraught with ethical issues, which are too complex to go into here.

The images were collected on a flatbed scanner and saved at 600 dpi. Sometimes the color is not true. I have about 14,000 images and am slowly cleaning them up and posting them to this site. The images are mostly of Paleoindian and Early Archaic points, although there are some others. If anyone wants copies, contact me. It may take some time to get assemble the data, and a small processing charge will be incurred to cover preparation and mailing. But my ethic is that as scientists, we should share data. These images were time-consuming to collect and come from some obscure sources that are no longer available to professionals. It makes no sense to keep those to myself. I hope that folks who use these images will also share theirs. 

I have the copyright for these images but will make them available for use in professional publications with proper attribution. Please contact me concerning proper attribution; some institutions have specific requirements.  

David K Thulman, Principal Investigator

Institutional Collections

State of Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research

The Florida Museum

University of South Florida

Silver River Museum

Southeastern Archaeological Center of the National Park Service

Smithsonian Institution

Research Laboratories of Archaeology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Savannah River Archaeological Research Program

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Amory Museum

Cobb Institute of Archaeology at Mississippi State University

University of Kentucky

Alabama Office of Archaeological Research

University of Tennessee Archaeological & Environmental Research Laboratory

McClung Museum

Pennsylvania Archaeology collection

Cincinnati Museum Center

Peabody Institute of Archaeology at Andover

Special Note of appreciation to the private collectors and avocationals that shared their collections and knowledge

Ike Rainey

Alvin Hendrix

Rodney Peck

Jeannette Cole & Bill Childers

Don Munroe

Eddie Templeton

Guy Marwick

Harley and Ryan Means

 

 The Parris Family

Archaeologists and others also were helpful to this effort:

Michael Faught

David Anderson

Adam Finn

Jim Dunbar

Marie Prentiss

Monty Pharmer

Chris Moore

Derek Anderson

Ryan Wheeler

Joe Gingerich

SPLASH

SPLASH

Submerged Paleo-Landscapes Archaeological Survey and Heritage

SPLASH projects are dedicated to protecting Florida’s cultural resources with research, publication, and outreach.

The ARCO-OP supports SPLASH projects with equipment and funds management.

SPLASH: A Deeper Dive 2021-2022

Research projects developed and conducted by Morgan Smith and Shawn Joy and supported by the ARCO-OP
SPLASH projects are dedicated to protecting Florida’s cultural resources with research, publication, and outreach.

Many of Florida’s richest and most endangered cultural resources lay submerged under both fresh river and oceanic salt waters. These sites contain unparalleled organic preservation crucial for answering some of the most vehemently debated topics in archaeology. Since the last glacial maximum (24,000 years ago), Florida has lost over half its land mass to rising seas as glacial meltwater was reintroduced into the oceans. This has dramatically limited Florida’s coastal archaeological record from the Paleoindian through the Late Archaic Periods (14,550-5,000 years ago). In fact, not a single unequivocal coastal Paleoindian site has been identified on the East Coast, despite the identification of so many Paleoindian sites near the modern coastline. Much of what archaeologists know about the First Floridians comes from research at submerged river sites, such as Page-Ladson, the oldest archaeological site in the Southeast. Sites such as these extend onto the submerged paleo-landscape, now drowned off Florida’s coastlines.

Threats to these submerged archaeological sites come from natural and human impacts.

SPLASH projects are dedicated to protecting Florida’s cultural resources with research and publication.

The ARCO-OP supports SPLASH projects with equipment and funds management.

Lake George UW Research

Navigating survey lines
 

Research in Lake George was begun by CO-OP President, David Thulman in 2009 and reported in 2010 The field research was funded by an anonymous supporter. The project research design was to identify high-probability submerged locales in Lake George that could contain Paleoindian sites and to survey for and study new sites. 

The 2009 field work included diver survey and collections in and around the Lake George Point site (8PU1470, Thulman 2012).

In 2017, with funding from Florida Division of Historical Resources and remote sensing equipment from SEARCH, Inc., Thulman and colleagues remotely sensed with sub-bottom profiler and side scan sonar to reconstruct the late Pleistocene paleolandscape (low water) features of the lake bed.  Two locales offshore of Late Archaic and Woodland aged sites (Salt Creek and Silver Glen Springs) to see if there were potentials for earlier sites because lake levels were lower then.

in 2019 Thulman received a second FDHR grand to conduct additional remote sensing (GPR) and coring of features identified in 2017 sub-bottom data.  However, Covid precluded GPR survey and set back the coring operations.  Thulman (2020) describes the results of that research.

BACKGROUND

 Several fluted points have been recovered from Lake George, and at least one large Suwannee-age base camp has been identified (8PU1470).  Based on information from local collectors, the site has produced more than 40 Suwannee-type points and broken bases, other Paleoindian chipped stone tools, and fossils of extinct fauna.

Based on previous work in Florida  it appears that Paleoindian sites of Suwannee-age are more likely to be located adjacent to springs or watercourses, and the remnants of these geologic structures may be discernable.  Places in Lake George were surely areas of reliable surface water during the Late Pleistocene. (Thulman 2009).
 
Thulman, David K. (2012). Paleoindian Occupations along the St. Johns River, FloridaThe Florida Anthropologist  65:79-86.in 

UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY

 Underwater archaeology presents challenges that are not encountered in traditional terrestrial archaeology, but the potential rewards, including significant organic preservation, make the expense worthwhile.  Submerged sites in Florida, such as Windover, Page-Ladson, and Warm Mineral Springs, have produced 7,000-10,000 year-old organic artifacts that would never have survived more than a few decades in the harsh terrestrial conditions in Florida if they had not been submerged. 

 
We believe that Lake George is one of the few locations in Florida that has the potential to preserve intact Paleoindian- and possibly pre-Clovis-aged sites with organic remains.  The discovery and excavation of such a site will greatly expand our understanding of the first Floridians and inform broader questions about the earliest inhabitants in the Americas.
 
The ARCO-OP  sponsored underwater archaeology in Lake George 2009, 2017,2019-20 and upcoming in 2022!

Mount Elizabeth – Late Archaic Excavation Project

The first ARCO-OP sponsored  research project:    “Getting to the Bottom of Mount Elizabeth”  Late Archaic midden in Florida

 

Theresa Schober, PI

In 2012 Theresa Schober (ABD UF) presented the ARCO-OP with series of research questions, she proposed archaeological analyses, and secured funding aimed at Mount Elizabeth, a critically important Late Archaic Site in Southeastern Florida.  The site is a  4,500 year old shell heap under an historic mansion and its structure and contents are in need of thorough analysis and reporting. The Willaford R. Leach mansion was constructed in 1938 right on top of the shell heap that is the site.  Understanding of the important temporal context, geographic extent and structure of the Mount Elizabeth site increased substantially with cultural resource management assessments in the 1990s and research oriented excavations in 2008.  Restoration of the mansion in 2008 allowed for the systematic collection of sediment and zooarchaeological samples for future analysis. These samples and specialized examination of un-analyzed cultural material recovered in 2008 and 2009 provide an opportunity to significantly enhance our understanding of the unique position Mount Elizabeth holds in the East Okeechobee Region and southeastern Florida during the Late Archaic. 

The Leach Mansion was constructed in 1938, replacing an earlier wood frame structure, at the height of the elevated site area. A black earth midden directly underlies the mansion.

When was Mount Elizabeth first occupied and for what purpose? The restoration of the Leach mansion in 2008 and 2009 provided an opportunity to sample deposits at the very base of the Mount Elizabeth site including samples for botanical and zooarchaeological analyses. Submission of radiocarbon samples in addition to specialized analyses of remains from these lowest deposits will reveal whether a preceramic component occurs at Mount Elizabeth and whether the site’s first occupants were some of the earliest fiber tempered pottery manufacturers in peninsular Florida.

When constructed, a full basement under the mansion removed a significant amount of the site. Restoration of the mansion included installation of an elevator, providing the opportunity to excavate below the basement floor to the bottom of the site.

How long was Mount Elizabeth occupied? Whether Mount Elizabeth was occupied over a short period of time by many people or over a longer period with seasonal reoccupation will be determined through studies of seasonality in animal and plant remains and by radiocarbon dating of multiple deposits within the site’s stratification. Information about how Mount Elizabeth was constructed – as regular midden accumulation from seasonal or year round occupation, as a periodic feasting locale, or some form of intentional construction – can be inferred from an enhanced understanding of site chronology. What, if any, changes in subsistence or environment occurred during occupation? Limited zooarchaeological analysis has been conducted on deposits at Mount Elizabeth. The present study will provide baseline data that defines subsistence strategies and practices of the people who inhabited the site and establishes the relationship of site subsistence to the surrounding ecological habitats and seasonality of site use. In addition, the proposed research will address larger questions about shifting resource use through time, including the potential to address to what degree Mount Elizabeth inhabitants relied upon horticulture.

Principal InvestigatorTheresa Schober,and Greg Mount profile excavation units in 2008.

Was Mount Elizabeth a site of technological innovation? Excavations and preliminary analysis conducted in 2008 and 2009 revealed a consistent pattern of alternating shell midden layers with thin earthen strata and numerous postmolds observed in cross-section in the five meters of accumulation underlying a one-meter thick black earth midden. Preliminary analysis determined shell, bone and ceramic artifact densities decreased with depth while lithic frequencies increased with depth.  Is the apparent shift in technology through time reinforced with reexamination and additional analyses of shell, bone, and lithic tools, zooarchaeological and botanical remains, and comparisons of artifact profiles with other sites in the broader southeast? Is there evidence for increased use efficiency in shell or lithic tools suggesting intensification? What social conditions may be reflected in any technological change? What role does Mount Elizabeth play in the Late Archaic of southeast Florida? Was Mount Elizabeth a permanent settlement or did it serve as either a resource procurement site or ceremonial center where groups in the East Okeechobee Region gathered for short periods at certain times of year? How local was the technology that was employed at the site? Petrographic characterization of pottery thin sections can provide some detailed information on manufacturing origins contributing to any understanding of techniques, social interaction, mobility, and exchange. As greater exchange is often correlated with greater environmental risk – ameliorated through social networks – do we see a consistent or variable pattern of technological provenance through time that can provide clues to the extent or scale of social networks in which the inhabitants of Mount Elizabeth were participating?

Auger testing revealed 5 meters of shell midden deposits at Mount Elizabeth.

The most robust understanding of Mount Elizabeth and it’s role in Late Archaic peninsular Florida will come from the interaction of archaeologists with different specialties and backgrounds. Proposed here is a collaborative effort that will provide baseline data and integrative interpretation.  The 2008 excavation was financed in part with historic preservation grant assistance to Martin County provided by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Historic Preservation Advisory Council. The project was conducted with adult volunteers from the Friends of Mount Elizabeth and Southeast Florida Archaeological Society.